1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an automotive seat having a seat proper and an inclinable seatback, and more particularly, to a walk-in device of the seat, which functions to facilitate egress and ingress of a rear seat passenger of a motor vehicle. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with a walk-in device incorporated with a seat slide device, in which when the seatback is inclined forward by a certain degree, a locked condition of the seat slide device is cancelled and thus thereafter the seat is permitted to slide forward for providing the rear seat passenger with a larger foot space.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, various walk-in devices have been proposed and put into practical use particularly in the field of two-door type passenger motor vehicles.
The walk-in devices hitherto proposed are almost of a type which, as is shown in Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication No. 60-94835, comprises a so-called "return memory mechanism" which functions to permit a locking mechanism of the seat slide device to lock the seat slide device when, after completion of the walk-in operation, the seat is moved back to a predetermined middle position. For the locking of the seat slide device, the return memory mechanism has a pivotal memory lever carried by a movable rail of the seat slide device and a stopper plate fixed to one corresponding stationary rail of the seat slide device. That is, when the seat is moved back to the predetermined middle position, the memory lever is brought into abutment with the fixed stopper plate and thus pivoted in a direction to permit the locking operation of the locking mechanism.
However, due to inherent construction, the walk-in device of this type is compelled to use numerous parts. Thus, the seat assembly including such walk-in device becomes heavy and complicated in construction. Furthermore, using numerous parts causes increase in production cost of the seat.